When considering a purchase or lease of real estate, especially commercial real estate, the potential buyer or lessee has to consider a myriad of attributes of the property. Also, comparison between various alternative properties is difficult. One tool that has been used to simplify the process is the concept of “comparables” or “comps”, i.e., other properties that have similar attributes that can be used for comparison. While the use of comps is often helpful, it is difficult to determine a group of comparable properties because each consumer may have different needs and thus different attributes that need be considered to determine comparable properties. For example, one consumer may want properties that are near a main street, have storefront access and 10,000 square feet of available space while another consumer may need to be in a specific neighborhood and need 50,000 square feet.
In addition to the common attributes, such as the location and size of the building and the available space, a consumer must consider zoning, tenants, price, appearance of the building, vacancy rates, available transportation, age of the building, amenities, various financial attributes, and many other factors to make the best decision. The decision is so complex that professional brokers and other intermediary models have arisen to assist the consumer. In fact, virtually all commercial real estate transactions involve at lest one intermediary.
Recently, databases have emerged that provide access to real estate information, and commercial real estate information in particular. For example, CoStar™, provides a database that can be searched by various attribute filters to provide listings of properties satisfying the filter attributes. Such databases often include a great deal of textual information about properties and images of the properties and related maps. Brokers and other intermediaries use such databases to discover properties and help clients make decisions thereon. Also, these databases can be accessed via a web interface using a standard browser. However, because of the myriad of data, it has been difficult to present the data in a coherent manner, especially on mobile devices with constrained processing and display resources.
By nature, the search for real estate requires a decision maker, e.g. a broker and their client, to physically visit the various properties. Therefore, the difficulty in accessing data is further complicated in that the decision maker is physically on the move. Typically, a broker will conduct a property search at the office and print out the results to take with them to visit properties with their clients. In the event that the client desires different or more specific information while visiting a property, it is difficult for the broker to obtain the information. While real estate information is available through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, current systems do not provide the level of interactivity required by mobile devices to effectively utilize real estate information databases on a mobile device.
While systems and methods are described herein by way of example and embodiments, those skilled in the art recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood that the drawings and description are not intended to be limiting to the particular form disclosed. Rather, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Any headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used herein, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to) rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include”, “including”, and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.